


changkyu | 听海 (listen to the sea)

by plincess_cho (ai_hao)



Series: 잠들고 싶어 (In My Dream) | Changmin x Kyuhyun [7]
Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ, Super Junior
Genre: Author: Ai, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-18
Updated: 2015-11-18
Packaged: 2018-05-02 07:48:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5240399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ai_hao/pseuds/plincess_cho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyuhyun takes a trip to the seaside with his memories.</p>
            </blockquote>





	changkyu | 听海 (listen to the sea)

His trip to the seaside isn't quite the same when he goes alone. He visits the same restaurants, the same beaches, and the same tourist attractions in a desperate attempt to pretend Changmin is there with him but...

Kyuhyun sighs. His warm breath comes out in frosty puffs. A winter storm is on its way; he can feel it in the air. But instead of turning back to the warmth of the guesthouse, Kyuhyun walks towards the sea. The road trails off into a dirt path, beaten down by the feet of travelers gone by. The wind is stronger here; it picks up droplets from the sea and hurls them at Kyuhyun's face. He pulls his scarf up around his cheeks and wonder why he's come here at all. He knew it would be different. He knew Changmin wouldn't magically appear just because he ate the same dishes he did in the past. He knew that coming here would make him feel so damn nostalgic and lonely, but he had to come. There's something about the sea at Busan that is inexplicably different than the sea in Incheon. Kyuhyun can't explain it and doesn't bother to try. There are some mysteries of nature that are more romantic when left unexplained. 

_Changmin..._

He hasn't heard much from his best friend since he enlisted. Kyuhyun isn't particularly surprised, because nobody else has heard from him either. Changmin never really wrote letters. His mother remembers sending him off to summer camp and never hearing from him until he returned. Why would army life be different?

Still, he'd received two letters. The first one had left him quite worried: Changmin had written in scratchy handwriting and told him all about how much army life sucked. Everyone was younger than he was, he had an annoyingly regimented schedule that made no sense, and somebody had left their toothpaste in the sink without the cap. Tragedies in Shim Changmin's book.

The second letter thankfully had allayed some of Kyuhyun's fears. Changmin was settling in, making friends, and now that he'd been made the leader of his platoon, he'd get an extra holiday throughout the year. 

 _P.S._  Changmin writes.  _I met one of your fanboys. Apparently his mom liked you first though. Hahaha! Send me something signed. Thanks._

Kyuhyun had. Changmin had yet to thank him.

The wind grows stronger as Kyuhyun nears the water's edge. It's almost become unbearable, but he stays. He looks out at the angry gray waters. The waves crash onto the shoreline as if trying to reclaim the land back for the sea. Kyuhyun knows that if he stands there much longer the water will start soaking his shoes, so he starts walking along the shore. There's not a soul in sight: no one else relishes the thought of walking along the coast in the wind. 

Whenever he looks at the sea, he thinks of the Chinese song they sang for an SMTOWN performance. He's forgotten half the lyrics to be sure (most likely Changmin's half), but a few lines stick in his head.

 _Listen to the sound of the sea crying_  
Sighing because someone is heartbroken, and yet doesn't realize it  
That person cannot be me, at least I am still calm  
But my tears, even my own tears, they don't believe that...

Damn.

He misses Changmin.

As he blinks back tears, he can't help but smirk at his situation. He never thought that he'd be here: a 28 year old man crying over his best friend. Kyuhyun's always been a little bit sentimental, but this... 

In addition to the spray from the ocean, it starts to rain. Kyuhyun decides to turn back before he gets thoroughly drenched in raindrops and tears. 

He finds a secluded coffee shop not too far from the guesthouse and hurries inside. He shakes off the water from his jacket and selects a table by the windows. A waitress comes by and he orders a steaming mug of tea.

"Something without caffeine please," he says. She nods and turns to fetch his tea.

He pulls a notepad out of his thankfully-waterproof satchel. He taps his pen against the tap as he gazes out the window, wondering how to start. He really wants to tell Changmin how much it sucks that he's away, but he holds back. There's no sense in making him more miserable now that he's just gotten settled.

So instead, Kyuhyun tells him about Busan. About how the seafood restaurant wasn't as good as when they went but the shabu shabu place was better. About the storm coming and about him not catching pneumonia. About regret over not properly recording "Listen to the Sea" (or any duets for that matter). About the cute waitresses in the cafe who they both could fall in love with. (His tea is incredibly satisfying: he can't really tell if the waitresses are actually that cute, but whatever. Changmin isn't there to debate him.)

Three pages and two cups of tea later, Kyuhyun has a hand cramp and really has to pee. He hurries to end the letter and pay for his drinks. He runs back to the guesthouse right before the heavens truly unleash a deluge of torrential rain. Once properly dried off, he folds the sheets into an envelope and addresses the front. He realizes that he'd forgotten to buy stamps before coming down, so he walks downstairs to the reception desk in hopes of purchasing some.

"Where will it need to be sent?" the ahjussi asks. 

Kyuhyun tells him.

"Ah, the army base. Let me find you a stamp."

Kyuhyun tries to pay for it, but the man refuses it. "My grandson enlisted last June. I understand the hardship. Have you completed your service already?"

"No," Kyuhyun replies. "I'll be leaving at the end of this year."

"Ah," the man replies. "I'm sure you'll serve well."

"I'll do my best," Kyuhyun says. He hands him the envelope and the ahjussi presses a stamp into the corner.

"Your brother?" he asks.

Kyuhyun doesn't bother correcting him.

_Basically._

*  
The sky is clear  when he prepares to return to Seoul. Kyuhyun hurries down to the seaside for one last glimpse of the ocean and snaps a few photos. The sea is calm now and has regained its grayish blue color. How different it looks now than it did the night before. Kyuhyun suppose it reflects his mood: the morning holds the promise of a new day instead of the tumult of emotions from the night before. 

As he turns to go, he hears the opening lines from "Listen to the Sea" echoing in his ears.

_Write me a letter, tell me what color the sea is today..._


End file.
